OST, OD, etc.

[Chris Kloth]

I have been lurking for a long time, but this thread hooked me today for a
variety of reasons...some professional and some personal.

I have a very different take on the OST/OD thread.  It has to do with a
larger issue among people as individuals and communities, where community is
not limited to geography, but does reflect elements of culture.  It has to
do with the "I" and the "IT" that are essential elements of any strong
community we CHOOSE to be a part of.

Without attaching any judgment of the person or the question, this thread
began with a question about why OST has not been on the OD radar screen.  As
several people have pointed out, it has been on the OD screen for along
time...yet there are people in OD who do not know about it still.

One could also ask why it is not on the community development, economic
development or the urban and rural development radar screens...and one who
is involved in any of these activities would have to answer, "It is for some
people and for others it is not."

Over the 30 years I have been working with people in communities and
organizations I have heard people, including me, ask why OD, UD, RD, CD, ED,
etc don't/didn't have any of the following on their radar screen: Future
Search, Appreciative Inquiry, Bohmian Dialogue, The Medicine Wheel, Social
Ecology, Complexity Theory, Recursion, Synchronicity, Restorative Justice,
and on and on and on.  In each case an "I" who had learned about or become
excited about an "IT" that seemed valuable.  "IT" might be a tool, a theory
base, a world view, a set of values or norms or practices.  The question was
directed to an "us" (a group of "I" that are aware and appreciative of it)
about a "them" who don't seem to "get IT."

A more appropriate framing of the original question might be, "Why is it
that OST does not seem to be on the radar screen for the people I talk with
or the articles I read that seem to me to be identified with something some
people call OD."  That places the question in the context of a person from
within one community and its culture asking about people in another culture.
This question allows for the possibility that "I" do not know enough of
"them" to be sure, that no one should ever assume that any one member of
"them" represents all of "them" and that "they" may not even think of
themselves as an "us."  Often those of "us" who are pretty clear who "we"
are categorize a variety of "not us" types into one group.

What I have always liked about the listserves for OST, Future Search, OD,
AI, PD, Kettering, and others is that there are lots of people who are
working in communities and organizations who view the world and what works
in the world differently than I do.  They are more or less experienced at
their work, more or less grounded in the theory and history of their work,
more or less informed about the way others do their work, more or less
committed to the "one true way."  These differences enrich my life and my
work.  I love to be disagreed with.

What I am sometimes impatient with, and, reflecting on this rather pedantic
sermon...tonight must be one of those times, is when any of "us" talks about
"them" as if the "fact" that we get it means they don't.  At this point we
trivialize our own purported values.

All of this reminds me of what Shabbat supper will be like tomorrow night.
Two very large extended families, very Jewish families are being joined by a
marriage.  We will have orthodox, conservative and reform Jews in the room.
There will be a whole lot of us and them and us and them will all be Jews,
but some of us will think others of us are better Jews than others.

It reminds me of talking about spirituality and religion and specific
religious groups and specific believers and how each of these serves
individuals and groups and communities more or less well.

It also reminds me of the kind of thinking that, taken to a different scale
and setting, contributes to the kind of tragedies that prevents racial and
ethnic groups from resolving deeply held differences.

I use OST in my work, but it is not the only way I work or view the world.
I agree with many of the criticisms in this thread and this list about how
some people practice what they call OD.  I also believe that, as a member of
the ODNetwork, it is pretty hard to find evidence there is a cohesive "they"
or "it" called OD...and that it is just as well that people can't seem to
define OD very clearly.  I fear if it ever gets well defined it will become
dangerous.

Again, this is not about the person or the question, per se.  It is about
how unconscious we are about how many ways we do this I-We-Then stuff.  It
is about the way each of us (me, too), at times, can marginalize another
person or group.

At the risk of more hyperbole, the core question in human relationships may
be this: how do we balance individuality and community?

As Dennis Miller says, "Of course, that's just my opinion.  I could be
wrong."

Or, as Mick Jagger says, "It's only rock 'n' roll, but I love it!"

Shalom,

Chris Kloth
Senior Partner
ChangeWorks of the Heartland
250 South Virginialee Road
Columbus, OH 43209-2052
telephone - 614-239-1336 x 1
fax - 614-239-1337
e-mail - chris at got2change.com
www.got2change.com

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